Country Living Skills

We started fighting the powdery mildew not last night, but this morning since we read online that watering and/ or fertilizing plants in the evening could be one of the reasons why they get powdery mildew in the first place. Not only did we find affected leaves on zucchini and pumpkins, but also on the acorn squash and on our cucumbers. The luffa gourd that grows right next t the zucchini remained unaffected, which came as a surprise.

So this morning we first cut away all the infected leaves and then sprayed the baking soda/ soap mixture on the remaining leaves and the stems, and now we are waiting for the results.

We also read online that a mixture of 1 part of water and 9 parts of milk would work well against powdery mildew, but we decided to try the baking soda/ soap mix first.

Generally speaking, you can plant zucchini, squash, pumpkin and gourd a plant per foot. Note that zucchini does not vine, whereas squash, pumpkin and gourds, do.

IN ROWS:

• 18 inches between rows for zucchini, squash and gourd
• 12 inches apart
• plant 3-5 seeds, thin out if necessary

Pumpkins are usually planted in hills dues to their size. Leave plenty of space for them to vine.

Corn, Beans and squash, pumpkin or zucchini together make what is commonly called “The Three Sisters”. Here is how you plant a three sister mound:

1. In late May/ early June, pile up soil a foot high and 20 across. Place the mounds four feet apart, flatten the tops.

2. Plant five to six corn kernels in a small circle.

3. When the corn has grown about five inches (about a week or two later), plant seven to eight pole beans in a circle around the corn, about six inches away.

4. At the edge of the mound, a foot away from the beans, squash or pumpkin seeds, seven to eight all in all.

5. Weed out the weaker plants once they have grown enough to tell which are strong and which are weak plants.

6. Wrap the beans around the corn stalks as they grow. The squash will crawl around corn and beans.